I created a new set of posters for the classroom on “Questions to Ask to Extend Learning.”

Educators frequently encourage parents and teachers to ask “open ended questions” as part of a facilitated learning process. But it may be hard for parents and teachers to think of good questions as they’re playing with a child in a classroom or at home.

Often, they end up asking yes / no questions, or quizzing kids for “the right answer.”

On Teacher Tom’s blog, he writes: “They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but I beg to differ. We hear stupid questions almost every time adults and young children are together. Here’s [an] example: a child is playing with marbles, exploring gravity, motion and momentum. An adult picks up a handful of marbles and asks, “How many marbles do I have?” The adult already knows the answer. The child probably does as well… [These] questions take a child who is engaged in testing her world, which is her proper role, and turns her into a test taker, forced to answer other people’s questions rather than pursue the answers to her own.”

So, I designed these posters to hang around the classroom to inspire parents with some good open-ended questions. They offer ideas of what to ask that will take the child’s learning to a new level. Click here for a PDF file and you can print your own.

Sources for these ideas:

• http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/docs/ask_TeacherTips.pdf
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-powerful-questions-teachers-ask-students-rebecca-alber
• http://www.aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?id=587
• http://www.medway.gov.uk/docs/questions_that_can_help_to_extend_children.doc